Introduction

Image depicts a corn stalk.

Pawel Wiatrak

Corn is one of the main row crops in the United States. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, corn acreage increased from 80.2 to 93.6 million acres and total production increased from 9.76 billion bushels to 13.1 billion bushels in the U.S. from 1998 to 2007. In 2009, there were 86.5 million acres planted with a total production of 13.2 billion bushels.

The acreage of planted corn increased in South Carolina from 350,000 acres to 400,000 acres from 1998 to 2007. In 2008 and 2009, about 355,000 and 335,000 acres of corn were planted in South Carolina, respectively.

The Orangeburg, Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Williamsburg, Horry, Darlington, and Florence Counties accounted for the highest acreage of planted corn in the State in 2009 (Table 1). The highest estimated average yields were obtained from Georgetown, Sumter, Spartanburg, and Richland Counties (135, 131, 126, and 125 Bu/acre, respectively).

The average yield for the State was 110 Bu/acre in 2006, 100 Bu/acre in 2007, 65 Bu/acre in 2008, and 111 Bu/acre in 2009.

Table 1. 2009 Corn production by County in South Carolina.

County Planted (acres) Harvested (acres) Yield (Bu/acre) Production (bushels)
Orangeburg 39,000 37,300 122 4,532,000
Clarendon 35,000 34,900 121 4,206,000
Sumter 27,400 26,900 131 3,519,700
Lee 24,500 24,200 121 2,923,800
Williamsburg 22,000 21,700 107 2,312,100
Horry 20,300 20,100 103 2,060,700
Darlington 19,800 19,200 121 2,330,000
Florence 19,800 19,600 115 2,244,200
Dillon 14,500 14,400 116 1,663,200
Allendale 10,700 10,500 81 854,300
Calhoun 8,800 8,400 106 886,500
Marlboro 8,200 8,100 108 870,900
Richland 7,500 7,400 125 928,000
Marion 7,200 7,000 104 724,500
Dorchester 7,200 7,100 107 761,100
Lexington 6,800 6,100 122 741,400
Hampton 6,800 6,500 82 532,300
Barnwell 6,500 6,300 80 503,600
D40 Combined Counties 5,600 1,700 53 89,600
Colleton 5,400 5,000 69 347,100
Bamberg 5,300 4,900 107 525,000
Chesterfield 5,000 4,900 91 443,500
D20 Combined Counties 4,400 4,100 98 401,400
Aiken 4,100 3,600 51 182,500
Georgetown 2,700 2,600 135 351,000
Berkeley 2,200 2,100 72 151,100
D10 Combined Counties 1,700 1,200 86 102,800
Saluda 1,600 800 50 39,900
Anderson 1,000 500 75 37,700
D80 Combined Counties 1,000 800 101 80,600
Jasper 900 800 66 53,000
Spartanburg 800 500 126 63,000
Edgefield 700 400 83 33,000
York 600 400 61 24,500
State Total 335,000 320,000 111 35,520,000


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